The CarLee Collection
by BlueWallTack
Summary: A series of oneshots surrounding Carley and Lee throughout the game. Some of them are AUs and some of them don't completely follow the canon of the game. CarLee, might be others as well. Rated T.
1. Morning After

**A/N Just so you know these oneshots so far are coming from an "Imagine your OTP" Challenge that I started on Tumblr. If you want to see the "imagine your OTP" prompt that this was based on or if you want to give me a prompt, you can go to my tumblr which is listed on my Profile and look under My Stuff on my Tumblr. Enjoy!**

**Morning After  
**

Lee's eyes opened slowly and he was greeted with the sight of the ceiling of his room at the motor inn. Something was wrong though. He was filled with peace and happiness, something that doesn't come often when you wake up at a motor inn in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. It was then that he noticed his lack of clothes under the covers, the warm body curled into his and the small hand laying on his chest. He turned his head to look at the girl beside him and instantly knew where this peaceful feeling was coming from.

He and Carley's relationship has grown immensely since they met 4 months ago. From her coldness towards him because of his past, to her trust in him and him in her, to their affectionate and teasing friendship to the secret love they share for each other now. All in 4 months after Lee's fate of life in prison was derailed by a walker at the start of an apocalypse. **"If someone had told me last year all of this would've happened…".**

He glanced again at Carley and his thoughts turned to the events of last night. While he and Carley agreed it would be best to not broadcast their relationship to the group, they still found time to themselves where they could act on their feelings, whether it be kissing, hugging or cuddling in either Carley or Lee's bedroom, talking about the events of the day or sharing interests with each other. Carley joked that these times to themselves are called their "dates", the thought of something so normal seemed ridiculous nowadays. In some instances, their cuddling would turn into heated make outs, but they never went any farther than that. Until last night at least. Carley had snuck into Lee's room that night after everyone had gone to bed and someone was assigned to be on watch duty. They had their normal "date", happy for some form of nostalgic normalcy from before the outbreak, even if the conversation did include subjects like gun accuracy and food rations.

It happened suddenly then. She laid her head on his shoulder and he turned her head to kiss her. Their kiss became deeper and their hands roamed as Lee laid Carley back on the bed. This is where they would usually stop but neither of them pulled away. They started to pull at each others clothes and opened their hearts to each other, let themselves go, not caring if anyone had heard them, their relationship reaching another new level.

Lee took his thoughts out of last night and turned his body slightly to stare at Carley's sleeping form. She was still deeply asleep, the blankets covering her naked body up to her chest. The sight of her next to him seemingly untouched by all the madness that goes on outside of this room. He has no idea how she has been able to stay so strong. Even though Lee could keep his head up in front of everyone else, behind closed doors Lee told Carley all of his troubles, from the annoyance of the Kenny and Lilly fights to his fear of not being able to protect Clementine. Through them all, Carley encouraged him and helped keep him going, all the while never showing her weakness. He could see them though, just like with her nightmares about the pharmacy and her weakness from hunger . But even then she refused the food he offered, worrying more about him and Clementine than herself. To Lee, she was a saving grace. Both her and Clementine were reminders to him that there were still good things in this world, things that are still worth fighting for, surviving for. In his eyes, she was truly perfect. And pretty cute when she sleeps.

"Hey there, are you gonna stare all day?"

Lee snapped from his thoughts to see that Carley had awoken and was staring back at him with the calmest expression he had ever seen on her face.

"If it was up to me, I would. You're beautiful." Carley blushed at his reply and looked away embarrassed.

"Well, I'm sorry that's not the case. You've got to do a supply run with Kenny today remember? Come on, before people realize I spent the night in here." She joked as she lifted up the covers to turn and sit on the edge of the bed. Lee rolled completely to his side to face her back as she began to gather her clothes.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" He joked back. Carley turned back to look at him lovingly.

"It was the best night of my life." She replied with genuine happiness and continued to dress. Lee leaned back against the bed with his arms folded behind his back.

**"Me too."**


	2. Kissing Game

**Kissing Game**

She was torturing him. This was nothing but sadistic torture.

Lee glared at Carley from across the parking lot, hoping that no one would see the exchange they were having. Carley answered his glare with her own smirk of self satisfaction. It was almost sundown and this had been going on since this morning. Due to Lee and Carley's mutual agreement of keeping their relationship private from the group, the amount of physical affection they shared was slim, only in small instances during secret meetings at night. Usually throughout the day though, if Lee could sneak in a hand squeeze or a kiss Carley would openly accept it; except for today.

**"Smirk all you want. I'll get you eventually".**

Ever since Carley and Lee met this morning, Carley has been dodging any romantic advances Lee has tried to make, claiming with a sly smile "You'll have to do better than that, Everett". He accepted her challenge and after that exchange, his drive to get a kiss from her multiplied by ten. Every chance he saw he tried to advance on her, only to have her push him away, leaving him frustrated and adding to his determination. He would win this game, no matter what.

He had taken up a small form of stalking since the challenge began, watching all her movements and the surrounding area for a good time to spring into action. Then, he saw his opening. She had walked behind the RV, going towards the stairs to go up on the balcony and stand in front of her room. Quickly he ran behind the buildings of the motor inn, hoping no one would notice his random sprinting. Before she reached the stairs he was able to make it to the end of the first building and faced the stairs she was going to climb, hidden by the building. As soon as he saw her he sprang, running up, grabbing her arm and pulling her back behind the building where he was hiding. Before she could realize who grabbed her, Lee pressed his lips against her for a quick kiss.

"I win". Lee says, his face now having the same smirk that Carley's had all day.

Carley's face was still in shock due to the how quickly she was grabbed. Once she registered what had happened, she playfully pouted in defeated.

"Took you all day, but good job". She replied with a mock angry expression.

"I try". Lee says as he tilts her chin up and kisses her with all the desire that had been building up since this morning. Carley relaxed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him to bring him in deeper.


	3. Have I Found You?

**A/N The song in this one is Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron & Wine.**

**Have I Found You?  
**

Carley followed the faint sound of music which lead her to Lee's bedroom door. She knocked once before coming in, knowing that he wouldn't mind. There, she found him laying back on his bed with his head against the headboard, staring off into space with a troubled expression. Next to him on the side table was a small radio with a built in CD player. They had acquired the small device during the last supply run along with some random CDs, everyone happy for the chance to hear music again and during their more hopeful moments, wondering if they would ever hear a radio broadcast again. Everyone shared the radio except for Carley, the thought of the radio bringing up memories of her old job and coworkers, along with their fates. Soft singing came from the radio, a song that seemed slightly familiar to her but she couldn't place what song it was.

_I was a quick-wit boy_  
_Diving too deep for coins_  
_All of your street light eyes_  
_Wide on my plastic toys_  
_Then when the cops closed the fair_  
_I cut my long baby hair_  
_Stole me a dog-eared map_  
_And called for you everywhere_

"Why are you listening to such a sad song"? Carley asked as she walked over to stand in front of his bed. Lee's head snapped up as he finally noticed her presence. He smiled at her, but to her keen eyes she could tell that whatever was weighing on his mind just now didn't disappear with her presence.

"I like it. I used to hear this song a lot. Never actually paid attention to the lyrics before. I just liked it as background for thinking." He replies as he swings his legs to the edge of the bed and stands up, walking over to her. She decides to let it go for now. Lee will tell her when he is ready to share with her. She turns her thoughts back to the song playing.

"Funny. When you don't listen to the lyrics, this sounds like a slow dance song." She jokes at the irony of the difference between the lyrics and the music. She didn't notice the mischievous look that came on Lee's face. Before she could say anything, he took her arms and placed them on his waist and put his on her waist. Carley looks up at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Are you serious?" She asks sceptically.

Lee shrugs. "You said it was a slow dance song. Plus I've never danced with you before."

"For a good reason!"

"Come on, humor me." Lee begs jokingly.

Carley sighs "Whatever. But you owe me, Everett." She relents, no real truth in her words. Lee begins to slowly sway them back and forth as the song continues.

_Have I found you?_  
_Flightless bird, jealous, weeping_  
_Or lost you?_  
_American mouth_  
_Big pill looming_

They continue to sway, both staring into each others eyes until Lee breaks the silence.

"For some reason, this made me think about my life before." He says, his face going back into that troubled expression.

"You mean, your life with your ex wife? Your conviction?"

"Yea. It made me think about what would've happened if it weren't for the outbreak. Where I would be right now. How I would be in jail, feeling angry, asking myself how, why, what happened with her played out like it did. I thought about how I would've never met you or Clem and how I would be so lost right now." Carley took her hand off his waist and brought it up to cup his cheek.

"That is the one thing that I will thank walkers for. There is no use in thinking about the what ifs in life. What matters now is focusing on what to do with where and what you are now, and how to keep moving to towards the future. Thinking about what you think would've or should've happened only hinders that." Lee listened as his expression changed from doubt to understanding to complete admiration. He once again remembered why he loved her so much.

"Thanks. I need to remember to listen to you more."

"Yes, you do." She replied with a smile as she dropped her hand to wrap it around his waist, put her head on his chest and continued to sway to the music.

_Have I found you?_  
_Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding_  
_Or lost you?_  
_American mouth_  
_Big pill, stuck going down_

As the song ended, Carley pulled her head back up from Lee's chest to look back into his face, noticing how his troubled thoughts truly seemed to have left his mind. He smiled back down at her and pushed the side of her hair back.

"I'm lucky to have you with me." He whispers, kissing her forehead.

"I'm lucky to have **you** with **me**." She replies, pulling him closer and bring him in for a deep kiss.


	4. Take Us Back

**Take Us Back**

Lee opened his eyes and squinted, adjusting to the light. He slowly moved his arms across the ground, trying to get a grip on his surroundings. Once he felt lucid enough, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked at the surrounding area. He was in a field, surrounded by green grass with nothing in sight for miles. Based on how the sun was slowly dipping down and the sky was a mix of pink and orange, he came to the conclusion that it was sundown. His first reaction was awe, losing his breath at the sight in front of him. His second reaction was surprise, at the fact that he was no longer in a dark room somewhere in Savannah, handcuffed to a radiator. His third reaction was anger, sadness and regret, because he remembered what had happened before he ended up here.

**"I'll miss you"**

**"Me too."**

"Clementine! I'm so sorry! I left you all alone! I'm sorry I failed you! I was supposed to protect you, keep you safe! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so, so, sorry!" Lee cried as the memories of his last moments with Clementine right before his death came flooding back. The images of Clementine, faced covered with blood and tears, made tears surface in Lee's eyes. He curled his arms around his knees and buried his head between them, cursing himself for hurting her in such a way and for leaving her by herself in such a cruel world.

"Please, please be alright Clementine. Stay safe. I need you to stay safe."

"She is Lee. She's okay. She's safe."

Lee lifted his head quickly in shock looking around for the familiar voice. He found the source of the voice behind him, standing no more than ten feet away from him, dressed in the same green shirt, purple jacket and blue jeans as the last time he saw her, a sad smile gracing her face.

"Carley." He breathes out in shock. Before his own mind could even register it, Lee jumps up from the ground and runs over to her quickly grabbing her and pulling her into a fierce embrace. Carley wraps her arms around him to return the embrace, pressing her face into his chest. They stayed in that embrace, taking in how it felt to be in the others arms again after so long. After a while, Lee pulls away and looks down at her.

"You're here. So, I am dead." Lee says as he looks down at her, his expression turning from a look of pure happiness to sadness and regret.

"Yes. I'm sorry." Carley says as she mirrors his expression. Lee strokes her hair and looks into her eyes and she notices his apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry Carley. I couldn't protect you or Clementine. I let Lilly shoot you, let Clementine get kidnapped and I left your body on the side of the road. I couldn't even do you enough justice as to bury you properly. Your body was probably eaten by walkers. Oh god Carley, I'm sorry I-." Lee continued to pour his feelings out, looking away from Carley, unable to meet her gaze. Carley put her fingers on his lips to stop him.

"It's not your fault Lee. What could you have done? No one saw Lilly pull her gun. No one knew about the walkie talkie and at the point when you did find out it was too late to change anything. There was nothing you could change." Carley grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Remember what I told you back at the motor inn? Fretting on what should've happened won't help anything. The only thing to do now is focus on the future. Clementine is safe, with Christa and Omid. They are safe. All we can do now is watch over her. I've been doing that ever since I died. That's how I knew to find you here, because I saw you dying." She confessed, a look of pain flashing on her face.

"You've been watching us?" Lee asked as he finally turned to look at her again. Carley took the hand that she was hold and brought it up to her cheek.

"Every second."

In that moment, the feelings of love for her that Lee kept locked inside, feelings that were too painful to deal with since her death, came bursting out, flowing through every part of his body. He grabbed her head and kissed her harder and deeper than any kiss they ever shared when they were alive, Trying his hardest to have her feel the love that he had for her. Carley accepted the kiss, finally feeling the one thing that she had missed all this time.

"I missed you. So much." Lee said after he pulled away from their kiss.

"I missed you too." Carley said leaning her head back against his chest.

They sat down and began to talk. About everything that has happened to them, things they knew and some they didn't. They talked about Clementine and her missed birthday, with Carley having to comfort Lee again when he began to blame himself. Lee told her about Christa and Omid and how they would've liked her. Carley told him about how she met his parents and Katjaa and Duck and how they spent the day talking and looking down on Lee, Kenny and Clementine. She told him about how she was brought to tears when she saw that he had been bitten and how Katjaa had to comfort her and she had to do the same for Katjaa when Kenny was lost to the herd of walkers. They talked about Ben and Carley's reaction to knowing that he is the one who stole the supplies, leading to so many deaths. Surprisingly, she forgave Ben, knowing how much he didn't mean for all of those things to happen. When they finally tired of talking, Carley showed Lee Clementine, Christa and Omid. They were safe, not the happiest group, but safe, something that gave Lee peace of mind.

"Well, I guess we should go now." Carley said standing up and looking towards the north of where they were sitting. The sunset was still there, seemingly unchanging.

"Go where?" Lee asked as he stood to join her. Carley looked at him and smiled.

"To see everyone. There are a lot of people waiting to see you." She smiles at him and grabs his hand. Lee's face brightened at the idea of seeing everyone again. Carley reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Come on, let's go." She said as she led him through the field.

**A/N I was thinking of continuing this chapter as a multi-chapter fic, not a part of this one shot series. Tell me what you think!**


	5. You First

**You First**

"Come on, it was your idea!"

"Yea, and I asked you first!"

"You first!"

"No, **you **first!"

They had been standing there, playfully glaring and egging each other on for about 5 minutes now. This had started when the efforts of Kenny and Lee had finally paid off and the hot water had been turned on for a limited time. Everyone quickly rushed to the showers in their rooms at the motor inn to take advantage of their success. Carley had been finishing up her shower when a wicked idea popped into her head. She laughed to herself as she peeked out of her bedroom door, in nothing but a towel, and quickly snuck next door and into Lee's room before being noticed by Ben who was on watch duty.

She closed the door to Lee's room and inwardly praised herself for being sneaky enough to get here without being seen. She wrapped her towel tighter around herself as she tip-toed over to the bathroom door to grab the clothes that Lee had left next to it. She then ran over and hid them under the bed as she heard the shower turn off. She tightened her towel one more time and sat down on Lee's bed with her legs crossed and her arms pressed to her sides and her hands leaning on his bed. Lee walked into his bedroom in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, raising an eyebrow at the girl on his bed.

"What are you doing in here? Not that I mind." Lee asks as he takes in her barely clothed form.

"I decided to come visit you." Carley replies, giving him a sly smile. Lee looks down and shakes his head chuckling.

"Okay. Whatever you want." He says as he turns to get his clothes only to see that they're not where they should be. He turns back to Carley, a knowing look on his face.

"Okay, where are my clothes?" Carley playfully shrugs her shoulders and gives Lee a mischievous smirk.

"I dunno." She says in a singsong voice. Lee playfully sighed and crossed his arms.

"So what do you want in exchange for my clothes?" He asks, playing along with whatever game she came up with in her head.

Carley looks up at Lee and her gaze turns lustful. "Change in front of me. Towel off, bare changing." Lee laughs, understanding what she wanted from him.

"You want to see me naked? When were you thinking about this?" He asks, humor still in his voice.

"I've thought about it in the shower, wondering how you would look, so I decided to be a little adventurous." She replies, her eyes going up and down, taking in the view of half naked Lee.

"Okay then." Lee said as he drops his arms and walks up to her, staring at her half naked body again. "But only if you show me yours. It's only fair."

Carley jumped up and looked surprise. "I'm the one holding the cards here, Everett. I don't need to show you anything." she said as she tucked her towel tighter around her."I'll do it though, but you first."

"No, how about you first?" Lee challenged.

"Not gonna happen, Everett." She replied, using her nickname for him whenever they competed like this. This is how they stayed for five minutes, going back and forth trying to get the other to reveal themselves first, not caring how long it would take as long as they were not the one to relent. Both of the water left on Lee's and Carley's bodies dried of as they continue their staring contest until Lee notices a blue sleeve slightly poking out from under his bed. Lee smiles to himself and breaks away from Carley's glare.

"It's okay Carley. You can stop now. I've won already." Lee says, a look of victory on his face. Carley raised her eyebrow.

"And what makes you think that?" Lee doesn't answer her and turns around to get his clothes. Carley realizes where he is headed and quickly, refusing to be beaten, snatches Lee's towel off of his waist. Lee whips around in shock and stares at Carley before trying to snatch the towel back from her. She dodges him as she tries to run to the door, but he quickly lunges and throws her down onto the bed under him, her towel falling off of her. They fall on the bed as they laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation until Lee pulls her into a kiss. Their kiss deepens and turns into a heated make out, neither of them caring about their lack of clothes. Carley's hand moves lower to grab Lee's manhood, causing him to snap up in surprise. He looks down at her, frozen by her bold action.

"Are you sure Carley?" Lee breathes out. Carley shrugs and smiles at him.

"I said I was feeling **adventurous**." She replies and pulls his head in for another kiss.

An hour later Carley led Lee back into the bathroom to take another shower.


	6. I'm Sorry

**I'm Sorry**

Carley paced around her room, looking back at the small object on her side table every few seconds.** "Oh god how long has it been? Why do things like this take 3 minutes?"** She thought to herself as she continued pacing while wringing her hands, unable to keep still. **"How could I be so stupid?! I should've been more careful dammit!"** She continued to berate herself over what led her to this moment, wondering how her actions led to her sitting here, waiting for the results of a pregnancy test.

Lee and Carley entered the sexual part of their relationship only about 2 months ago, almost right after the mess that occurred with the St. Johns. Ever since they first had sex, Carley has religiously taken birth control pills that she snuck in after a supply run. She begins to try and count back to somehow pinpoint where she could've missed a pill. **"Maybe it's just a fluke, they say birth control is not always 100% effective."** Then, she remembered.

It was about a month after the St. John incident, three and a half weeks to be exact. They had their first bandit attack that day. It wasn't that bad, just three of them shooting arrows into the motor inn, but as soon as they started shooting bullets back at them they fled. After that, they spent the rest of the day trying to prop up anything else they could against the wall they made along the border of the inn. It wasn't much of a problem, as usual Lilly and Kenny fought again about the safety of staying here while Lee was caught in the middle. Lee didn't care much about the fight though, he was more focused on Clementine who had almost gotten hurt in the fray. A flying arrow just barely missed her, and while she was physically unharmed, she was reclusive for the rest of the day. Later that evening, After checking on Clementine and tucking her in, Lee snuck into Carley's room for another "date", their relationship still a secret, and they let out their frustrations in the best way they could. Carley didn't realize in all the excitement from the attack and the following fear and rush to fortify the inn even more than it was that she forgot to sneak away to take her birth control.

A few weeks after that night, Carley realized that she didn't need to ask for anything from the drugstore for her period, even though it should have come a week ago.** "It has to be that night. What else could it be? But seriously, one time? I took it everyday after that! Maybe I was supposed to double up? I never really needed birth control before! Every guy I used to date on and off used a condom or I didn't even sleep with them. Then again, I never really had a committed sexual relationship ever and never during an fucking apocalypse!"** Carley continued to lose herself in her thoughts until she realized that her watch had gone off, signaling that the test was ready. Slowly, Carley approached the side table and stared at it, afraid to pick it up and know the results. Quickly she grabbed it and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. **"Just do it."**

She looks at the test and her heart drops to her stomach at the sight of the plus sign. "Oh god." she breathes out, sitting down on her bed as she's lost the energy to stand. She lowers her head into her hands as she slowly breathes in and out, trying to calm herself.

**"Dammit! What do I do now?! I can't have a baby! As much as I would love to have a child with Lee, this is definitely not the right time!" **She screamed in her head as tears started to fall from her eyes. She quickly wipes them away. **"Lee. How can I even tell him?" **She fell back on her bed, closing her eyes still trying to calm herself. She cleared her mind, still slowly breathing until she felt her body relax on the bed. Once she felt that she had calmed down enough she opened her eyes and raised her self back up into a sitting position.

"I've got to tell him." She says quietly to herself. Right on time, she hears a knock on her door followed by a deep voice.

"Carley?" Lee says from outside her door. Carley tenses, freezing in her position.

"Come in." She says, trying to not let her voice give away her emotions. Quickly she reaches over and stashes the pregnancy test under her pillow. Lee enters the room and can automatically tell that something is off with her.

"Are you okay?" He asks, his eyebrow raising. Carley stands up and walks over to him.

"I'm fine. What did you need?" She says, still trying to contain her voice.

"I wanted to ask you about this flashlight." He says, pulling said flashlight from behind him.

"It's broken." Carley says too quickly.

"I know it is."

"And the batteries might be in backwards." She jokes, trying to seem less suspicious. Lee gives her a serious look.

"It uses just one." He states, obviously not amused.

"Everything should. What was the question?" She says quickly, faltering again.

"Did you break it?"

"No."

"Okay." Lee says and walks over to hug her. Carley hugs him back and puts her face in his chest. She almost begins to cry again but holds back, not wanting Lee to be any more suspicious.

"I told Kenny and Clementine about my past. It went well. They both understood." He says while still hugging her.

"That wasn't so hard was it tough guy? She jokes, trying to hold back tears. Lee pulls away and looks down at her and can see that something serious is bothering her.

"Are you sure you're okay? Is there something you want to talk about?" He asks worried. Carley, unable to hold it any longer, lets her emotions out and begins to cry, tears streaming down her face. Lee's face turns into a look of deep concern, distraught at the sight of her crying. He has never seen her like this before.

"Lee, we need to talk." She managed to get out and started to close her eyes and breathe deeply again. Lee's mind began to race, wondering what could've possibly happened to make her so upset. Once she calms down she sits back down on the bed and motions for Lee to join her. He sits down next to her, so close that their legs are touching, and puts his arm around her.

"Whatever it is Carley, you can tell me." Carley wipes the remaining tears from her eyes and takes one more deep breath.

"I'm pregnant." Carley says, looking away from him. Lee's eyes widen in shock. He lets a breath out as he takes in the information he just received. Carley was pregnant. With his child. She was carrying his child. It was a statement his brain needed to process for a moment. They both sat in silence for a minute, Lee trying to think of something to say and Carley waiting for his reaction.

"I'm sorry. I don't know how this happened. I think it's because I forgot to take my birth control one day a few weeks ago. I'm sorry, I-"

"It's okay Carley. Don't be sorry." Carley looked at Lee in shock when she heard his words.

"You're not upset?"

"I'm not upset. Surprised, but not upset." Carley lays her head on his shoulders, finally feeling relieved and comfortable around him again. Lee wraps his arm tighter around her and lays his head on top of her.

"What are we going to do Lee? We can't have a baby in this world, but I don't think I have it in me to get rid of it. I really don't think I can." She says, her voice tired. Lee pulls away to look her in the face.

"I don't know. I can't tell you what we should do Carley. I don't want you to make a decision based on what I want. I just want you to know that know matter what you choose, I will support whatever decision you make." Carley leaned into him more, remembering how much she loved him. They sat there for a while as Carley thought about it, the pros and cons of each side and finally decided what she wanted as Lee sat there holding her in his arms. Finally she spoke up.

"I want to keep it." She says with no uncertainty in her voice.

"Okay then. We'll keep it." Lee replies and kisses her forehead. Carley smiled at him, taking in the full realization of her choice. They were going to have a baby. A mix of both of them together in a tiny form that would grow inside her. She reached up out of his arms and kissed him fully on the lips.

"Thank you for supporting me." She says after she pulls away. Lee pushes her hair back and cups her cheek.

"Thank you for telling me." He smiles back at her. Lee stands up, pulling Carley with her and hugging her one more time before gently brushing his hand across her middle area, causing Carley to break out into a wider smile.

"When should we tell the group?" Carley asks, looking up at him.

"Whenever you want to."

"Soon, but not now."

"Okay. I have to go and figure out who broke this flashlight, but I'll be back soon." Lee kisses her one more time and leaves her room. Carley lays back down on her bed, feeling much better than she felt all day.

**"I think this could actually work out." **She thinks as she smiles to herself, happy that Lee supports her.

_BANG_

_"DROP IT!"_

_"She couldn't be trusted Lee. Please!"_

_"Your not coming with us."_

_"I'll die out here."_

_"I don't care."_

Lee jumps out of his nightmare and looks at his surroundings, realizing he is still in the boxcar of the train. He looks over to see Ben, Clementine and Chuck still fast asleep with the small amount of cloth they found acting as blankets. He leaves the boxcar to walk to the next car and leans on the railing, looking out at the view but not paying attention to it, his mind on other things.

**"I'm sorry Carley. I couldn't protect you or our child. I let you both die."** He puts his face in his hands, trying as hard as he could not to cry. Images of her, lying on the ground face down, blood pooling around her head, filled his head. He stood next to her in one second and in the next, watched her drop to the ground dead, their child dying along with her. Lee gave up trying to keep in his emotions and let his tears fall, not caring if anyone saw him in this state.

**"I'm sorry"**


	7. Adult Swim

**Adult****Swim**

Carley dragged herself through the door, dropping her bag on the floor.

"I'm home." She said tiredly as she staggered over to the couch and plopped herself face down onto it. Lee looked up from his book over to her in confusion.

"Carley? Is there something wrong?"

"The usual." She replies, her voice muffled by the couch. Lee smiled and quietly laughed. Whenever Carley had the "usual" wrong with her, that meant only one thing: work or more specifically, her boss.

"What happened now? You didn't hit her and get fired did you?" He said with amusement in his voice. Carley pulled herself up into a sitting position on the couch and glared at Lee with her arms crossed.

"It's not funny! She's such an asshole! She's making me rewrite the ENTIRE article over and she wants it by tomorrow! Just because of one mistake! That is just rude! I know why she's doing it too. Ever since her pay got lowered shes been on the war path! It's not our fault you do such a shitty job! You know the-" Carley continued to talk, not noticing that Lee had set his book down, left his chair and walked over to her. He knelt down to her level and kissed her on the lips, interrupting her angry rant.

"How many times are you gonna come home like this? Come on, you need to relax." He smiles and pulls her to stand up with him.

"I'll keep coming home like this if she keeps being a bitch and sorry, I've got no time to relax. I've got to finish this tonight thanks to her _highness_." Lee kisses her again and Carley loosens up slightly, feeling calmed by Lee's presence beside her.

"It can wait. Don't you wanna stick it to her anyway?" He says as he pulls her to him, putting his arms around her waist. Carley sighed.

"Yea but-"

"Come on. We can relax together, with a bath." He whispers into her ear, causing chills to go throughout Carley's body.

"Clementine?"

"Fast asleep. Put her to bed an hour ago." He replies, rubbing up and down her back.

"Did you leave the pool on?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go there."

Carley runs upstairs with Lee chasing her to their bedroom to get changed. They both come back down in their swimsuits and walk into the backyard, the pool still running and filled with water. Carley walks closer to the pool to set down her towel on one of the beach chairs, leaving Lee to enjoy the view of her in her blue bikini from behind. Suddenly, a thought popped into Lee's head and he walked up and snaked his arms around her from behind.

"Lee?" She asks, confused but still smiling at his actions. Lee didn't answer her and instead kissed the base of her neck, giving Carley shivers again. **"All these years and I still react like this."** She wonders, amazed that after 9 years of marriage and one 8 year old later, she still feels like she just met him. In all of her thoughts she didn't notice Lee's hands moving until she felt the top of her bikini fall, her breasts exposed to the night air.

"Lee!" She yelps and quickly turns around to face him, covering herself.

"I thought we could do what we did back on our honeymoon." He smiles, laughing a little at her embarrassment. Carley's eyes open in realization and her expression turns doubtful.

"But what about Clementine?"

"She's fast asleep remember?" Lee replies and begins to pull down his own swim shorts. Carley covers her eyes and turns her head away before she realizes what she's doing.

**"Wait, what am I doing? I've been married to the man for years! Why am I embarrassed about seeing him naked?!"** She thought to herself before taking a deep breath and removing the rest of her swimwear as well and following Lee, who was laughing at her, into the pool.

Once in the pool, Carley swam over to Lee, grabbing his shoulders to hold on to him. Lee used one arm to pull Carley closer to him while the other was used to keep them afloat.

"Don't you feel a little better now?"

"Actually, I felt better the moment I walked in the house and saw you." Carley reached up quickly to give him a quick kiss.

"Lee, I wanted to talk to you for a minute." She said, her face growing serious. Lee's smile quickly went away as he then swam them over to the closest wall in the pool and they leaned side by side against it. Carley leaned her head against his wet shoulder, enjoying the feel of the water.

"You wanted to talk?" Lee asks and turns his head to look at her.

"Yea. I wanted to know….what you thought about having another baby." Lee pushes his back away from the wall quickly, and after seeing Carley's disappointed face, realizes that he gave off the wrong message.

"Oh, no I want to. I** want **to! I was just surprised that you did." He says quickly.

"Of course I want to! I mean I love Clementine and she'll always be my baby but I was just thinking about it today, what it would be like to have another baby in the house." She smiles at him.

"It also wouldn't hurt to get a few months of maternity leave away from that bitch." She jokes. Lee pulls her back into an embrace, kicking his legs to stay afloat and kissing her hard.

"I'd **love** too." He gives her another quick kiss. "Want to work on that now?" He asks, his look turning lustful. Carley didn't need to hear anymore than that. She quickly swam over to the shallow end so they wouldn't have to float anymore with Lee right behind her. When she could touch the floor of the pool she grabbed Lee and pulled him into a deep kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"In here?" Lee asks surprised.

"Why not?" Carley replies and continues their make out. Lee pushes her back against the wall of the pool and grabs her legs to pull them tighter around him.

"Mommy, Daddy?"

"Clementine! What are you doing up?!"

"I had a bad dream and I heard you guys down here. Can I come in?"

"Uh…no we're getting out. Just go in the living room, we're coming sweetie."

"Okay Mommy."

"We are **never** doing this again."

"But Car-"

"**Never. Again.**"

**A/N I decided to continue chapter 4 in a new fanfiction called "Take Us Back". I should post it by the end of this week so look forward to it!**


	8. Snowy Day

**Snowy Day**

The snow had started the night before and carried over into the day. Everyone had begun to worry, the snow being out of place for November weather, especially when they noticed that the snow had begun to stick. Kenny and Lee made an emergency supply run for food, medicine and clothing, hoping to find some coats to protect against the cold. The snow, once again, fueled another fight between Lilly and Kenny over whether or not to stay at the motor inn. It didn't last long today however and everyone tried to make some use of the strange change in November weather in some way. Carley and Katjaa had begun to try and melt the snow for more water, mixing in their bottled water into a pot with the snow and heating it. Clementine and Duck used the snow to play, making snowmen and snow angels, occasionally pulling Ben into the snow with them. Lilly was on guard duty while also looking down on Duck and Clementine's fun with a smile every now and then.

Carley sat on the couch, now pushed under some shade to avoid the snow, with Katjaa and watched Clem and Duck play. Clementine, bundled up in a tan winter coat that was two sizes bigger than her, noticed Carley watching her and ran up to her with a small amount of snow in her hand.

"Do you want to play with us in the snow Carley? I made a snowman with Duck and now we're going to make angels." Carley smiled at the girl, stood up, and grabbed her hand.

"That sounds great Clementine. I'd love to." She let Clementine lead her over to where they were playing and together with Ben and Duck they made four angels of varying size. Lee watched Carley and Clementine play while he and Kenny rested from their supply run. His chest felt tight as he watched them laughing together and laying in the snow. He soon became wrapped up in his thoughts about Carley and Clementine, the two people in his life that have kept and would continue to keep him going. Seeing them together and smiling made him feel at ease in a world where you always have to be on your guard every waking moment, and sometimes even when you sleep.

Lee, still caught up in his thoughts, did not notice that Clementine and Carley had noticed him staring at them, and that Carley had bent down and whispered something in Clementine's ear, making her giggle.

Slowly Clementine and Carley gathered snow in their hands and walked out of Lee's view to the side, carefully creeping up behind him and dumping the snow on top of him. Lee jerked his head up in surprise by the sudden cold to see Carley and Clementine laughing at the success of their prank.

Lee shakes his head and smiles up at them, slightly laughing as he brushes snow off of his black winter coat. Suddenly Lilly whistles, signalling to be quiet and take cover and the situation turns serious. Everyone except Lilly crouches down, Katjaa huddling over Duck and Carley over Clementine with her gun out, with Lee, Kenny and Lilly Pointing their guns to the direction of the wall at the edge of the motor inn. Everyone was tense, listening to the trees and bushes shuffle, waiting for whoever was behind it to come out. Soon, the intruder revealed themselves as a walker came wandering out of the woods. Lee took his axe and ran out past the wall to dispose of it while Kenny joined him to check the surrounding area for any sign of more.

Things didn't go back to normal after that. Duck and Clementine went back to playing, but were much more quiet and solemn. Katjaa, Kenny, Lee and Carley's eyes focused much more on the children playing and the surrounding area, their guard back up. Everyone kept a weapon close to them and Lilly's eyes were now even more focused on her watch. Soon, everyone was beginning to freeze, so Kenny and Lee ventured back to the boiler to try and start the hot water again and after rations were served, everyone left to heat up with a hot shower or bath with Ben staying on watch until Kenny had his bath and would then relieve him so he could warm up as well.

Lee had finished getting dressed after his shower and was laying back on his bed when someone knocked on his door and then entered. Lee didn't have to turn to know it was Carley, as she was the only one who would knock and then come in without waiting for him to tell her to. He looks up and, as he knew, Carley was standing there, her hair looking slightly damp, but fully clothed in her zipped up purple jacket.

"Hey. How are you?" He asks, happy to have her near him.

"I'm fine. Still a bit cold though." She replies, walking closer to him.

"Well, other than the shower, you just have to rely on body heat to warm you up."

"Well, that's what I'm here for. You wouldn't mind sparing some body heat would you?" Lee smiles, grabs her hand and pulls her down on the bed with him, wrapping his arms around her, both of them laying back onto his sheets with Carley's back leaning on against his front.

"Weird weather."

"Yea. But it was fun to play with Clem for a second."

"Yea, and to dunk snow on me."

"Not my fault you go off into your own thoughts" Carley teased.

"Whatever" Lee joked back at her. Carley turned to face him and gave him a small kiss on the nose.

"It really was fun to relax for a second and forget about…you know."

"Yea. I wish there was more moments like that, for Clementine especially."

"She's a strong girl though. She'll be just fine with you beside her."

"She has you as well. She's very fond of you ya know" Carley looks at him in surprise and smiles, moved by his words. She never thought that her relationship with Clementine was ever close enough to the point where Clementine would rely on her like with Lee, but she always hoped that she would be close with the little girl in some way and that Clem would warm up to her. She had never realized that Clem had already thought fondly of her and put her only second to Lee.

"I guess she does." Carley says lovingly. She turns back around and they continue to talk as they cuddle until they both fall asleep.


	9. Rainy Day

**Rainy Day**

Carley groaned as she plopped her soaked body onto the bed, grabbing the closest pillow to her and smashing it over her wet head, trying to block out the sound of thunder. Lee opens her bedroom and quickly slides in and shuts it, his clothes and hair slightly damp. The downpour of rain had started early in the morning and has left everyone feeling drained at their efforts to protect themselves against the weather. Lee and Kenny had managed to salvage some supplies from the surrounding buildings in Macon and everyone was forced to stay indoors all day but there were still a list of things to worry about. There was a hope that no lightning would strike near the motor inn (or the RV for that matter) and alert walkers and the ones on watch duty today had only and umbrella and a coat to protect themselves from the wind and rain. Unfortunately, Carley had watch for most of the day and only just now was she switched out by Lilly.

"I **hate** rain!" She groans from beneath the pillow, acknowledging Lee's presence."Didn't like it before the apocalypse and don't like it now."

Lee laughed as he walked up to her bed. "I'm sorry for the bad luck. If it helps, I'm still drying from the supply run today."

"I feel like a dirty wet rag" She continues to moan, lifting her head from under the pillow and looking up at him with a frown.

"I think you'll be good after a nice shower" He says and sits next to her legs on the bed, Carley's head following his movements.

"Yea, you're right, I wonder what time it is now?" Carley asked, pulling herself up and beginning to undress.

"Around 10, I just put Clementine to bed." Lee answered looking down at his watch. When he looked back up at Carley his eyes widened in surprise and he quickly tuned his head.

"Jesus Carley! Give me a warning!" He said embarrassed.

"What's the matter? It's not like you haven't seen it before." Lee's cheeks flushed, remembering their "alone" time together.

"Yea, but still…"

Carley laughed. "You're such a gentleman." She picked up her soaked clothes and put them in the small basket in the corner, reached for her towel and wrapped it tightly around herself. Walking back over to Lee she bent down to give him a playful kiss on the cheek.

"I like gentlemen." She whispers in his ear. Lee grabs her waist and pulls her on top of him while laying back against the bed. Carley straddles his hips, giggling at his playfulness. Their fun is interrupted by a knock on the door and Carley quickly lifts herself off of Lee and tightens the towel around her so she can answer the door. She cracks the door open and hides the view of her room with her body, not wanting anyone to see Lee in here with her.

"Clementine?" She asks surprised at the little girl standing at the door, shivering slightly.

"Is Lee in here? Can I come in?" She says, and from the look in her eyes Carley could tell something was upsetting the girl.

"Yea, he's here and of course you can come in" She answers softly, opening the door wider to let her enter. Clementine enters and as soon as she sees Lee, walks slightly faster to stand in front of him. Lee, now sitting up again, looks down at the girl, concerned and surprised to find her awake.

"What's up Clementine? Is something wrong?"

"No, I just couldn't sleep. I wanted to know if I could stay with you and Carley." Lee saw through her lie and like Carley could tell that something was bothering her. Just at that moment lightning flashed particularly close to the inn and Clementine jumped slightly, fear flashing on her face. Both Carley and Lee took notice of that and instantly knew what was wrong.

"Are you afraid of the storm Clementine?" Lee asked gently.

"Not all of it, just the lightning." She responds, looking down at her feet. Lee pulls her into a hug and picks her up to bring her on the bed.

"Do you want to sleep here until the storm's over Clem?" He asks gently.

"Can I?"

"Of course you can." Carley answers. Lee pulls back the covers and Clementine crawls under them, grabbing a pillow so she can sleep closer to where Lee is siting. Lee covers her up tightly and lets her lay next him, stroking her hair as she drifts off to sleep. Carley, still in her towel, smiles at the cute scene in front of her and walks to the bathroom to take her shower.

"Wait, how did you know I was in here?" Lee asks, looking down at Clementine in confusion.

"You're always with Carley. When you're not out getting stuff or with me then you're with Carley." She respond sleepily.

**"Is it that obvious?" **Lee thinks, stopping for a moment to wonder how much the other members of the group know about the relationship between him and Carley. **"If they do know, I guess that just makes things easier."**

When Carley finished her shower and dressed herself in the only dry clothes she had, she emerged from the bathroom to come across the most precious sight she had ever seen. There on her bed she saw Lee laying, completely asleep, with Clementine wrapped in a blanket and curled into him, clutching his shirt in one of her hands while one of Lee's arms was wrapped around her, holding her close to him. After taking in such a wonderful sight, Carley slowly crept up to the other side of the bed and gently climbed on it, reaching over to kiss both Lee and Clem on the head.

"Goodnight" she whispered and grabbed the remaining cover available, laying down and drifting off to sleep herself.


	10. Brown Eyes

**A/N This was a request by an anon friend of HarryPotterTwin. I'm actually running out of prompts so you can always request one on my Tumblr (Link on my profile) or PM me!**

**Brown Eyes**

(This takes place in an AU where Lilly, Katjaa, Carley and Duck survive long enough to make it to Savannah and they still meet Chuck, Christa and Omid)

Lee shuffled around as he sat on the chair on top of the picnic table across from Kenny, both of them armed with guns, keeping watch over the house from behind the barricade. They had found this house 7 months ago not long after they arrived in Savannah and as soon as they decided that it would be their new base, barricaded themselves in by blocking up the gate that led to the backyard and boarding up the front. There's usually just one person who keeps watch of the barricade in the backyard, making sure there were no walkers around and that no one was able to get by without being noticed, but today both Kenny and Lee stayed on watch together, because there was a possibility of more noise and an even more important reason to be on high alert.

"Will you stop moving around like that? Carley will be fine, Kat will take of her." Kenny addressed his fidgety friend. Lee couldn't help but move around though, it's what he does when he's nervous, and no amount of reassurance from Kenny can help him calm down.

"She's also got Lilly and Christa with her, and you know how Lilly is with Carley." Kenny joked, referring to Carley and Lilly's new found friendship. After the fight about the stolen supplies at the motor inn had almost escalated into a shooting but didn't thanks to Lee's quick timing, Ben had broken down and confessed right then and there. Lilly, still furious, had wanted Ben to be left behind but they took him, everyone taking pity on the boy but no one trusting him with anything. After Lilly had realized her mistake of accusing Carley and almost killing her, they had made amends and became quick friends. The friendship had helped Lilly greatly and her grief as she no longer felt as she was alone, and quickly she became as protective of Carley as she was of her dad. But it still gave Lee little comfort to know that Lilly would be watching over her.

"Yea, yea, you're right. But I can't help it Kenny. Isn't it only natural?" Lee replied, a worried look stuck on his face.

Kenny laughed. "Only for the weak ones it's natural."

"Didn't you say you were like this?"

"...No..." Lee laughed, having caught Kenny in his lie. He began to calm down slightly, but then his mind went back to the events currently happening inside of the house and he began to retreat back into his mind and his worries about Carley's welfare and their future.

"Oh goodness man, you won't let up! Listen, if there is something I know about these things it's one solid fact: worrying about it will only lead to more problems. Take this time and enjoy it, especially since this is the last time you'll be who you are now."

Lee raised an eyebrow at Kenny. "So who will I be after this?"

Kenny smiled. "A much better version of yourself." At that moment, the door to the backyard opened and Omid and Clementine stepped out. Lee left his seat and quickly went to stand in front of them. He could swear that for a second he heard a faint cry coming from inside.

"Is everything okay?"

"Katjaa says she's doing just fine and that you can see her now. Lilly sent us to get you." Lee didn't listen to another word. Quickly he ran inside and up the stairs until he came across Lilly leaning against a wall outside of the room he and Carley shared and smiling.

"She's okay?" Lee asked, making sure everything's fine before he entered.

"Yes. Go see for yourself." Lee hesitated slightly before opening the door to their room. He caught his breath at the sight of Carley, laying on their bed with Katjaa sitting at her side. In her arms was a tiny bundle wrapped up in one of the blankets that Lee had gotten on his last supply run, with only the top of the baby's head showing. Katjaa and Carley looked at Lee when he entered the room, both of them looking tired but content and happy.

"It's alright, you can come on over." Carley says with laughter in her voice. Lee walks over to sit on the opposite side of the bed as Katjaa, looking down to get a look at the child in Carley's arms. The baby was still sleeping, or at least looked to be sleeping, and Lee gazed in awe at the child before him. This was their child. **Their child**. The small human that had been growing inside of Carley for months now. The child that greeted him with a kick when he pressed his hands on Carley's stomach. The child that had caused Carley to cry, then smile, then yell in anger, and then cry again for no reason. The child they had been talking to and about for months now, but have only just met. Lee continued to stared at the tiny, slightly red face in wonder, taking in the baby that did not even exist months ago and was not even in this world hours ago.

"He's early so he's tinier than other babies, but he's a fighter for sure." Katjaa's voice interrupts Lee's thoughts and her words stop his thought's in their tracks.

"He?" Lee breathes out, turning to look at Carley, who nods her head and smiles wider.

"Yea, it's a boy." She says lovingly. Lee takes a moment to look at Carley as he notices how different she looks. She wasn't hunched over in pain anymore, nor was her stomach swollen. Her hair was damp and she was still sweating and even though she looked clearly tired her eyes held nothing but pure happiness and relief. She had a glow surrounding her, an aura that only came to new mothers. Carley turned her head to look back down at the child.

"I can't believe he's here. Seems so unreal. He looks like you." She comments adjusting her arms to hold the boy tighter.

"I think he looks like you. All he has is my hair." Lee responds while running his hands through the boys soft black hair.

"He has your brown eyes too. I got a look at them before he fell asleep. and he has you face and nose. Neither of our skin, his is more like a blend. Lighter that yours but darker than mine..." She trails off, mesmerized by the boy.

"Katjaa thank you for everything." Lee says as he stands up to give her a hug.

"It was no problem Lee. He's a cutie, that's for sure. I'll leave you guys alone now. Congratulations." And with that she leaves, closing the door behind her. Lee walks back over to sit on the bed next to Carley, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her forehead.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For loving me. Giving me hope. Giving me a family."

"Well it's not like loving you is hard. You can be very charming."

"Oh really?"

"Really." Their conversation was interrupted as they heard the door creak open slightly, and saw the figure of a small girl peeking through.

"It's okay Clementine, you can come in." Clementine opens the door wider and enters, closing it behind her. She walks up to the bed and sits on the other side of Carley.

"Are you okay now Carley?"

"I'm just fine Clementine. Would you like to meet the baby?"

"Sure." Carley adjusts the baby so that Clementine can get a good look at his face. Clem leans over to get a closer look at him and smiles.

"He's cute, and he looks like Lee." She rubs his little head gently. "Hi uh...what's his name?"

Carley and Lee look at each other in surprise, realizing that they had forgotten to name him.

"Did you have a name in mind?" Lee asks.

"Kind of. What do you think of Jake? Jacob formally."

"I like it."

"I like it too. He looks like a Jake." Clem chimes in.

"Then Jacob it is and I have an idea for a middle name. How's Ray?"

"Ray?"

"It was my dad's name." Lee says, a flash of sadness in his eyes. Carley cups his cheek.

"I love it. Jacob Ray Everett."

"Hi Jake. I'm Clementine." Clementine continues to talk to the baby while stroking his hair, with Lee and Carley watching, admiring the cute scene of their children.

"Welcome to the world, Jacob Ray Everett."


	11. Happy New Year!

**Happy New****Year!**

"I've got it this year I swear!"

"Carley, you know I don't care. We can just go to sleep."

"Don't baby me Lee! I swear this is the year! I didn't have any extra work, I'm not tired, and I have tea. I've got this."

"But what about the baby?"

"He's fine! You'll just worried that I'll actually do it this year."

Carley and Lee continued to argue as they sat together on the couch in their living room, Carley being held by Lee with both of their legs curled up under them. The TV was on medium volume, with Dick Clark's "New Years Rockin Eve" playing in the background. Every year on New Years Eve Lee and Carley would usually just spend the night in the house with Kenny and his family or Carley's friends coming over to celebrate with them. This year however, Duck was sick with a strong cold and Lilly and Christa decided to spend the holiday with their respective boyfriends Omid and Mark. So after they put Clementine into bed at 10:00 (She was aloud to stay up an hour later for New Years), they decided to cuddle on the couch and watch TV until the New Year rang in. Lee however strongly believed that Carley wouldn't make it to midnight, simply because she never does.

"Just remember you owe me when I win. No matter what ridiculous thing I want from you I get it."

"That is, **if** you win." Lee retorted.

"Oh, I **know** I'll win. Just watch."

It was a well known fact that Carley could never make it to midnight on New Years. It was a running joke among their friends. Carley had even fallen asleep while some of their friends were still at their house, excusing her self to go to bed after being woken up and leaving everyone snickering. Every year Lee had bet her that she couldn't do it and every year so far she has failed. Usually her tiredness was caused by her job, but this year she was off on maternity leave, which either increases or decreases her chances of staying awake. Lee wrapped his arms around her more and pulled her into him, her head resting back on his chest.

"Oh no, you can't get me that easily! No matter how much you try to get me comfortable I'm not sleeping!" Carley said as she pulled away from him.

"I'm not trying to trick you in any way. Can't I just care about the well being of my pregnant wife?" Lee said , pretending to be offended.

"No you can't. Not when your being sneaky." Carley got up from the couch with slight difficulty to reposition herself and curl up next to him, leaning on his side and laying her hand over her swelling abdomen.

"Now you can't trick me." She teased with a smirk.

"I don't need to anyway. They always say pregnant women get tired easily."

"Please! I'm only 5 months in; it's not that tiring."

They continued to talk and watch the show as the clock neared closer and closer to midnight. They got a call from Kenny and Katjaa but other than that the night was uneventful. As he clock got to around 11:30, Lee noticed that Carley had become quiet and seemed more like dead weight on his side. He turned his head to look down at her to find her fast asleep, once again losing their bet. Lee quietly laughed and softly kissed her head.

"Told ya." He wrapped his arm around her and leaned back to get a bit more comfortable. Soon his head began to nod back and eventually he too fell into a deep sleep.

A minute before the ball dropped, Clementine came sneaking down the stairs. The girl peeked out into the living room to see both of her parents sleeping. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she tip toed over to her parents and reached up to softly kiss them both on the cheek before grabbing the remote from under her father and sitting crossed legged in front of the TV.

"10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1! Happy New Year!" The people on the TV counted down and as the ball dropped, The camera panned to the people on the streets kissing their first kiss of the New Year.

"Yuck." Clementine quietly said, disgusted at the sign of the adults making out. She quickly turned the channel to On Demand and began to watch an episode of "The Powerpuff Girls" before her parents woke up and caught her.


	12. I Do

**A/N I posted the pictures of all the outfits on my tumblr if you want to see them. Just follow the link on my profile under the story!  
**

Carley sat and stared at the mirror in front of her, checking her face for the slightest imperfection. Everything about today had to be absolutely perfect. The door to Carley's room burst open and Lilly, Christa, Molly, Clementine and Joan, Carley's mother, came filtering in, their eyes filled with glee. Carley turned away from the mirror and stood up, but before she could say anything, Christa, Molly and Joan wrapped her into a body crushing group hug.

"Oh Carley, my baby! I can't believe your getting married!" Joan gushed as she helped Molly and Christa squeeze the life out of her daughter.

"You guys are gonna kill her before she makes it down the aisle!" Lilly joked while holding Clem's hand and watching as Carley slowly turned blue from a lack of oxygen. The girls pulled away and once Carley was able to breathe again she stepped back to get a good look at the ladies' outfits. Molly, Christa and Lilly were all wearing deep purple strapless knee-length dresses with a small flat bow in the front with matching heels and bouquets of Lavender and White Rose flowers. Clementine's was of the same color, with her dress flowing out down to her ankles with wide straps, a white ribbon that wrapped around her waist and tied into a bow in the back, leaving the rest of the ribbon to hang out behind her. Instead of heels, she wore white ballet flats, a white basket filled with Lavender petals instead of a bouquet and her hair was pulled back into a curly bun that was tied back with a white hair tie and small fake purple flower. Joan's dress was a moss green knee-length dress with medium sized straps and a strap around her waist with black shoes.

"You guys look wonderful! The dresses turned out great!" Carley said, incredible satisfied with how everyone looked.

"Yea, but what about you? Why aren't you dressed yet?" Molly asked pointing at the white robe that Carley was wearing.

"I was about to, I was just checking again to make sure everything was perfect. It's got to be perfect."

"It's a wedding. Everything will not be perfect. That's the #1 rule of weddings." Christa Joked.

"Oh yea, I remember what happened at your wedding..." Carley playfully retorted.

"Okay, enough talk. come one, I want to see you in that dress!" Christa quickly changed the subject as she walked over to help her get ready. With help from the girls and some pep talk, Carley was dressed and ready to go. She wore a white strapless lace gown with floral embroidery that hugged her in all the right places with a train that was just the right amount for someone her size along with white shoes with a small heel and a bouquet of white roses. Her short hair was pulled back into a low bun with a curled strand hanging out on each side of her face and her veil being placed just above her low bun with a small diamond clip.

As Carley was having the finishing touches put on her makeup, the door opened again and Katjaa, Duck and Carley's father, Henry, came in. Katjaa's dress was the same as the other bridesmaids but hers had a v-neck with small sleeves that covered her shoulders to show her maid of honor status. Duck was wearing a black tux with a purple tie and vest that was the same shade as the girls dresses and was a mini version of the suits that Henry, Lee, Kenny, Mark, Omid and Doug were wearing.

"Hello, we're finally here! Oh Carley! You look beautiful!" Katjaa said as she entered the room holding a case with two rings inside and a small pillow to carry them on.

"Thanks Katjaa. Oh my god I'm so nervous!" Carley said as she bounced slightly, excited and nervous at the same time.

"Everything will be fine Carley. Lee's waiting for you and if he even thinks about leaving I'll knock his teeth out myself!" Molly joked, patting Carley on the back,

"And then me and Christa will chop off his balls and torture him in a dark basement until he issues a formal and public apology and spends every day of the rest of his life at your hand and foot while wearing a shirt that says how much of an asshole he is." Carley's eyes widened as Lilly went more and more into detail, somehow believing that she was completely serious.

"That was a swear, and my dad said he would never leave Carley ever and I trust him." Clementine said, her no cursing habit kicking in. Carley smiled at her soon to be step-daughter taking their conversation seriously. Everyone knew Lee would never leave Carley and that they were just joking (except Lilly who was dead serious). She closed her eyes and took a few breathes in and out before opening them again and looking at everyone.

"Okay. Everyone ready? Does any flower girl or ring bearer have to go to the bathroom?"

"No." Clem and Duck both responded in unison.

"Alright then. Let's go get married!"

The ceremony went on without any major catastrophe happening, as part of Carley's brain had somewhat worried would happen. With the exception of Omid tripping (twice), Duck actually having to use the bathroom, and her mother's incredibly loud bawling, everything was just as she wanted. As they were now heading into the reception, Carley's small fear of that first dance was beginning to grow. She knew how to dance, she was just worried she would mess up and ruin her reception, but as they waited before making their entrance, Lee continued to reassure her jokingly that even if she fell, he could catch her and make it look flawless.

"You're not that smooth. In fact, you're clumsier than me, Everett." Carley joked back at him.

"Hold on now, you're Everett too now you know." The reminder of her new status caused Carley to blush and sneak a quick kiss from her new husband. Soon they made their entrance and began to have their first dance as husband and wife. As they swayed back and forth in each other's arms, Carley looked up into Lee's brown eyes, seeing the endless amount of love he had for her in them and hoping that he could see the same in hers.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too. I especially love you here with me, with Clementine. You know she thinks the world of you."

"I know. I think the world of her too." Carley said lovingly as she leaned her head against Lee's shoulder and continued to slowly dance with him until they ended their song with a kiss.


	13. Easter Special

"Hold still Clem, or you'll mess up your hair." Carley said as she tried to keep her daughter still so she could fix her hair. After a stern voiced threat to take away the ten year old's candy, she was able to successfully tie Clementine's hair back into a bun with a flower covered ribbon that match the girl's pastel pink dress and Mary Jane's that her mother had bought her just for Easter.

"Okay, Jake and I are ready to go. You girls ready yet?" Lee asked as he walked into the bedroom he and Carley shared, holding their one year old son. Jake and Lee were both dressed in matching black suits and loafers with Lee's tie being blue and Jacob's red. Carley walked over to run her hands through her son's short black hair and kiss him on the forehead before turning and glaring at Lee.

"We would be if **someone **didn't give their daughter her Easter basket early."

"I did, but I told that she could play with the toys, not eat the chocolate." Both Lee and Carley turned to look down at Clem who was lightly bouncing in her seat.

"Jelly beans aren't chocolate, so I thought I could eat those." Clementine replied, shrugging.

"A college professor, outsmarted by a fourth grader..." Carley trailed off, chuckling and shaking her head.

"Just hurry up and get ready."

"Okay, just let me fix my hair and get some make up on, then we can get going." Carley said as she turned back to her mirror and began to tie back her hair into a low bun.

twenty minutes later, everyone was dressed and ready to go. Carley had chosen to wear a light blue dress that fell to the top of her knees with a short sleeve. They all piled into their black Honda and drove off. They were around one of the last ones to arrive at the church, with mostly everyone else waiting and chatting outside. As usual, both Lee and Carley's mothers were the first to run over to the little family, both women excited and itching to coo and gush over their grandchildren.

"Hey guys, took ya long enough. The service is about to start soon." Kenny called out as he, Katjaa and Duck walked over to the group.

"Yea well, **some** people tend to take forever to fix hair." Lee replied while playfully glaring at his wife who was busy taking Jake out of his car seat. She overheard his comment and after her son was snatched out of her arms by one of their mothers she walked over to him.

"**Excuse** me? You're the one who can never say no to a cute face." Kenny laughed. It was well known that Clementine had Lee wrapped around her little finger. Carley knows that Lee probably didn't even ban Clem from eating chocolate when giving her the basket, unable to say no to his precious little girl.

"Look, let's just go in so we can try to get good seats." Lee said embarrassed as everyone started to walk inside the church.

* * *

Lee opened the front door to their home as he and Carley crept through the door quietly. Carley set down Jake on his napping cot next to the couch in the living room while Lee, who was carrying a sleeping Clem, walked passed them and up the stairs to tuck the little girl in. After the church service, They, along with their friends and family, decided to go out to a family restaurant and ended up staying out much longer than they had planned. Now it was around 8pm and they were all thoroughly exhausted.

Carley plopped herself on the couch, leaning her head back against it and closing her eyes. A few minutes later, Lee joined her, loosing his tie and cuffs. "Man, what a day." He sighed, sliding his shoes off.

"You said it. I'm just glad Clem's sugar high dropped before she got home. I did not have the energy put her to bed when hyper." Carley said, leaning her head against Lee's shoulders as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Today was fun though. Too bad Jake can't have much of what was in his basket and thanks to our parents, Clem has enough candy and toys to last her a year."

"We'll just have to eat some of it then I guess." Lee replied, laughing. "My mom always does overdo it when it comes to her grandkids."

"Yea, mine too..." Carley's voice trailed off as she drifted off to sleep with Lee joining her soon after. A phone call shook both of them out of their sleep some time later and after getting a grip on her surroundings, Carley cleared her throat and answered it.

"Hello? Oh, hey. Did you get home safely? That's great. Yea, we got home just fine. Clem and Jake are both fast asleep but I'll tell them you said goodnight. Thanks again for the baskets, they loved them. Okay, I'll see you soon. Goodnight." She said as she hung up the phone and turned to Lee who was still shaking off sleep.

"That was your mom. She says hi and was just checking in." Carley said as she then turned to look at the time. "Shoot, it's 10:30. Come on, let's get upstairs." She turned towards the cot where Jake slept only to find it empty. She quickly grabbed Lee, her eyes wide in fear, and pulled him to look at the same upsetting sight. Quickly, both adults began to run around the house for any sign of Jacob, knowing that a walking toddler could be anywhere when left unattended for god knows how long. As Lee ran through the hallway outside of Clem's room, he heard shuffling and what sounded like plastic packaging. He peeked the door open and then full opened it once he saw someone moving. The sight he found, made him want to both sigh in relief and laugh hysterically.

There, sitting in the middle of Clementine's room, was the little girl herself and her little brother, surrounded by the copious amounts of candy and treats from both Jake and Clem's baskets, with what looked like half of them already eaten. Both children had chocolate smears covering their hands and faces, with Jake having some on his clothes as well. Clementine gave her father a sheepish smile when she realized he was watching them, and paled when Carley walked next to Lee and glared at her, knowing that she couldn't pull the same trick on her mother.

"It's your fault, you deal with them. I'm going to bed." Carley announced angrily as she stormed off to her bedroom, exhausted by the thought of dealing with a hyperactive and messy Clem and Jake.

"How is it my fault?"

"Because you're a pushover."

**A/N ****Happy Easter everybody! **I was hoping to get this out on Easter, but I had to go out with my family. I do still take requests by the way! Also, thank you so much for the lovely reviews! They really brighten my day!


	14. Let's Keep Moving

**A/N I was just writing this on my Carley RP blog (don't-fuck-with-the-reporter) so I wanted to share it here! Don't worry I haven't abandoned any of my stories, I just need to get everything back in order after moving back home since my recent chapters are in my notebooks. I will be updating soon with another prompt given to me by "Anon From Tumblr" so this is just an extra present for waiting so long! Thanks for sticking with me and I apologize for the feels you might get reading this!**

**Let's Keep Moving**

After checking to make sure it was safe, Carley let Clementine stay on the other side of the door while she handled Lee. Her body trembled as she watched the girl take small steps into the other room after saying her goodbyes, hesitating for she knew what was to come moments later. At the moment Carley would give anything to change their present situation, even her own life. But what's happened has happened and now they just have to deal with it. There's no fix for something like this, so it's the only thing they can do.

Taking a deep breath and using all of her will power not to cry, she turned back towards Lee. He looked so fragile to her, lying there against the wall, just barely clinging to life. For the first time the sight of him scared her; she was not scared of him though, but scared of what's happened to him. He was always so strong in her eyes, so protective and loving. It shook her to her core to see him like this, to see his eyes cold and his body weak. She truly never thought that it would come to this. Lee had saved her life so many times, the amount of times she had saved his would never seem like enough. Especially now that she must take his life away and leave him here to rot.

She closed the distance between them and went to her knees in front of him. He was still breathing, but it was shallow, and his eyes were closed as his head hung down, his forehead covered in sweat.

"Lee?" Carley quietly called out, her voice slightly cracking. At the sound of his name Lee slowly opened his eyes and brought his head up to look at her. He tried his best to force a smile but it only made Carley's heart hurt a thousand times more.

"I'm still here, don't worry." He said, his voice barely above a whisper. It killed her to look into his eyes. The same deep brown eyes that she had loved to look into, the ones that gave her comfort so many times since she had first saw them, now had a sickly greenish yellow tint to them and only made her want to cry out in anguish.

When Lee had first told her he was bitten and Clementine was missing, she had felt the world start to spin. Even though it was naive, she always thought that nothing could happen to them, that they would always protect each other. But there was no time for crying so she had to suck up her pain and help Lee find Clem. It took the entire day to track Clementine down and kill the son of a bitch who took her, the son of a bitch who caused them to be in this situation now. Once that was taken care of, Lee finally let on just how bad he was feeling and collapsed in the middle of the street, surrounded by walkers. With Clem's help Carley was able to pull him into a building and lock themselves in and there both Carley and Lee made the decision: Carley would leave Lee behind and continue on with Clem to get back to the group.

The little girl was distraught when she heard the news and if it weren't for Carley hugging her and trying to calm her down she would've began hyperventilating. Lee spent some time trying to reassure her that it wasn't her fault while Carley killed the walker strapped to the chair in the next room, giving them a way out. All that was left was to free Lee from this world and even though she was okay with the plan before, Carley truly didn't believe she had it in her now.

She brought her hand up to cup his cheek. "I love you" she said, her voice tight.

"I love you too, so much. I'm sorry this happened. I'm sorry I can't go with you. I'm sorry we didn't have much time together. I'm sorry for everything." He leaned his head back against the wall, breathing heavily as he tried to get out the last words he would ever say to her.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. You did what you could." She wished that she could tell him more, she wished that she could spend as much time as she wanted telling him how much she loved him and how being with him during all of this was what kept her going. She just wished that she could say more than what she was, but she knew that if she did then tears would start spilling out, and she refused to cry in front of him.

_"I won't cry, I won't. I want the last image he has of me to be a smiling one."_ Carley thought as she used all of her energy to curl her lips up into a sad smile. Lee tried to force a smile back at her and it was then when she was sure that she would break into tears in front of him, but she surprisingly held it together. "Don't worry, I'll protect Clementine. She'll be safe with me and Kenny, Ben, Christa and Omid."

"And what about you?"

"I'll be-" Her throat was incredibly tight now as she still held back her tears. "I'll be fine." She couldn't say anymore and she could see he was closed towards the end, his eyes glazed over as if he was already dead. She leaned forward and kissed his drenched forehead before giving him one last kiss on his lips. Even though his lips were chapped and he could not fully kiss her back, she still enjoyed it all the same. After all, this is the last time she'll ever feel his lips on hers.

A single tear managed to escape as she pulled away and stood up again. Quickly she wiped it away and aimed her gun at his head. She turned her head away before pulling the trigger, and jumped slightly when she heard the loud bang that took the man she loved from the world. Knowing that the deed was done she made a quick glance to make sure she had hit her mark before turning away from the body, never to see it again. Quickly she walked to the next room, her heart pounding and her chest in pain, to find Clementine on the floor sitting with her legs curled up, crying into her knees.

Carley knelt down next to the girl. "Clem, we need to go. Everyone is waiting for us at the house." Clem looked up at Carley, tears streaming down her face with the saddest expression Carley has ever seen. Slowly both girls stood back up and Carley grabbed Clem's hand squeezing it. Clem wrapped both arms around Carley and hugged her waist tightly, the tears still continuing. Carley tried to sooth the girl by rubbing her back until Clem pulled away, showing she was ready to leave. As the walked out of the backdoor Carley had the urge to take one last look back, but in the end decided not to.

When they got back to the house, Carley didn't say much. She answered the question everyone was asking in their heads _"Did he make it?"_ and after seeing their reactions, she simply excused herself and took Clementine upstairs to put her to bed. It had taken a while to lull the little girl to sleep and after she did she quietly left Clem's room and walked across the hallway to her own room, kicking her shoes off and laying down on the bed exhausted.

She smoothed her hand across the comforters remembering all the times she had laid in this same spot with Lee, simply talking or cuddling or just enjoying being near each other. It was there that she finally opened up the tears she had locked away and cried into Lee's pillow, letting out the pain she had held in during the whole day.

She cried through most of the night, and as members of the group walked past her room, no one questioned the muffled sobs they heard.


	15. Welcome Home

**A/N Just in case anyone was wondering, I still take requests. Just PM me or if you don't have an account, send me an anon message on Tumblr so I can respond to you properly. The link to my Tumblr is on my profile! This one is from "Anon From Tumblr". Thanks for the prompt!**

**Welcome Home**

"I'm home." Carley called out as she walked through the front door and set her messenger bag down on the coffee table.

"Mommy!" Jake yelled as he ran to his mother, his small body crashing into her legs.

Carley bent down to pick him up. "Hey baby! Did you have fun at school today?" She asked as she held him in her arms with ease. He was quite small for a five year old, a trait that Carley wished he had never inherited from her.

"Yea! I got to use the markers and they were the kind that smelled like candy! I drew you a picture with them!" Jake continued to babble on about the amazing markers as Carley walked into the kitchen.

"Welcome home." Lee looked up from the pan of spaghetti sauce and smiled at Carley as she entered the kitchen. He stopped his stirring and walked over to give her a quick kiss.

"Eww!" Jake groaned as he was given an up close view of his parents kissing. Lee laughed after pulling away and ruffled his son's hair.

"Sorry buddy; It's a grownup thing." Lee turned back to the stove as he continued. "There was a letter for you in the mail. It looks important."

Carley stiffened slightly and adjusted her hold on Jacob. "Did it say who it was from? Did it say something about the government?"

"I don't know, I didn't check. Were you expecting a letter from them?"

"Yea, just some forms."

Lee, noticing her sudden nervousness, looked up and stared at her questioningly. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong; we might need to talk later though." Lee nodded his head skeptically and was about to question her more but Jake grabbed his mother's attention again, pushing himself away from Carley to tell her to let him down. She gently set him on the floor and he grabbed her hand, eagerly pulling her out of the kitchen.

"Let me show you what I drew!" He cried as he kept pulling her. She gave one last look at Lee before following her son up to his room.

* * *

Later that evening when both Clementine and Jake had gone to bed, Lee sat on the couch in the living room, channel surfing and trying his best to occupy his mind. Carley still had not told him what was obviously troubling her and after tucking in Jake had went into the other room to read the letter that had started this. She had been in there for at least an hour now and he had not heard a single sound from her. He continued to stare blankly at the television screen as he grew more and more impatient.

"Lee?" Carley called out quietly while standing in the entryway between the living room and dining room. Lee looked up and noticed the paper that was in her hand and the nervous expression on her face. Immediately he turned off the TV.

"Ready to talk?" He nodded and she sat down next to him on the couch, the paper facing down on her lap.

"I guess there's no easy way to say this so I'll just come out and say it." She took a deep breath before continuing.

"They want me to go overseas."

Lee eyes widened, his breath caught in his throat. No, she couldn't possibly mean what he thought she meant. She just couldn't.

"Overseas? Overseas as in..."

"Yes, Lee. Overseas as in the Middle East, Iraq specifically. They want me to be an embedded reporter."

Lee's mouth hung open as he tried his best to come up with the proper words to express how he felt. He tried to hide his anger, but Carley could still see it in his eyes. After being married for so long she could see every tiny detail that tells her exactly how he's feeling and what he's thinking. To be honest, there wasn't any reason to even try hiding it from her; she would always know the truth.

"Nothing to say?"

"How?" Lee finally managed to choke out. This had to have been the last thing he expected her to tell him. They never really had to deal with Carley's job sending her to a war zone before. The first time they even came close to this situation was ten years ago and she turned down the offer back then, as she didn't want to leave Lee by himself with a four year old Clementine. Now it was being offered to her again, and by the way she had told him the news, he knew what her answer was.

"You said yes, didn't you?" Lee said as he looked at her with a hardened expression. Carley flipped the letter over to the front and laid it down on the coffee table in front of them.

"I did. I filled out the paperwork and had an exam about a week ago. The letter just confirmed that all of it went through and I've been cleared to go."

Lee's eyes flashed with anger "And you're waiting until now to tell me?!"

Carley sighed and stood up. "I knew if I had told you sooner you would've tried to stop me."

"Of course! Carley, you're going into a war zone! With guns and bombs and people that could kill you without a second thought!" Lee said as he followed her movements and stood in front of her. He was close to yelling now, trying but failing to lower his voice so as not to wake Clem or Jake.

"I'll be protected by military troops; I'll be perfectly fine!" Carley said as she began to raise her voice, crossing her arms and glaring at her husband.

"I've seen the statistics Carley, reporters have been injured, some have even died!"

"That doesn't mean I will!"

"But why put yourself at risk!"

"It's not like I'm putting myself in the direct line of fire!"

"But you're getting pretty close to it!"

"This is a great opportunity! I should be lucky I got a second chance to take it!"

"Yea, but at what cost? Is it worth it if you come back in a body bag?!"

"I'm not going to die!"

"You might die?" Carley and Lee quickly looked towards the stairs as they heard a third voice enter their argument. At the bottom of the stairs stood Clementine, dressed in a t-shirt and pink pajama pants with her curly black hair tied back into a loose ponytail. Her eyes were wide with fear, sadness and confusion as she stared at her parents, clenching and unclenching her hands. "Mom, what's going on?"

Carley face softened as she turned towards her daughter. "I'm sorry we woke you Clem, go back to sleep."

"No! Tell me, what's going on? Why are you fighting? Why is Dad saying you could die?" Clementine's voice cracked slightly as she talked, taking hesitant steps towards her parents.

Carley sighed. "Come sit down Clem." Clem quickly followed her mother's command and as Carley sat down next to her, she noticed her father turning and leaving the room.

"Look Clem," she began as she grabbed one of the girl's hands "I'm not going to die but I am going somewhere dangerous. I'm going to Iraq to report on the fighting that's been happening over there. I'll only be gone for 6 to 8 weeks and then I'll come back and everything will continue normally."

"But why do you have to go in the first place?! Why should you go if you could come back hurt or worse?!" Carly could see just how worried Clem was, no doubt because of what she heard earlier from her father _"Thanks a lot Lee."_

"Clementine, look at me." She said as she pushed her daughters chin up to face her. "This is something I have to do. I'm going there so I can come back and tell everyone what's really going on. I'll be letting people know what's happening with the war and with our soldiers. Remember when I told you why I'm a reporter?"

"You said it was so you could tell people the truth so they know what's going on around them so they can do something about it" Clem said as she seemed on the verge of tears.

"Exactly. I need to go there so people will know the truth about this war, so they can do something about it if it's bad. It's another way of helping people by keeping them informed." Carley pulled Clem closer to her as Clem leaned her head on Carley's arm.

"I'm not gonna lie and say it won't be dangerous, but I will be protected. I had to go through a lot of training to prepare for this and I even learned how to shoot."

"You know how to shoot?"

"Yup, I got licensed to use a gun but that doesn't mean I'm going to. I need to go through a lot of exams, physical and mental, in order to be cleared to do this. I'll also be protected by military soldiers and I'll be able to write and talk with you on camera almost every day. This opportunity doesn't come often Clem and I need to take it. I'm not worried so you shouldn't be either. Do you understand?"

There was a pause before Clementine answered with a soft "I understand. Can you please just promise you'll be safe?"

"I promise that I'll be safe." She said and kissed her daughter on her forehead. "Now go back to bed Clem and we can talk more in the morning."

Clementine, satisfied for right now, got up and walked back up the stairs to her room as Carley leaned back into the couch and let out a breath. "Well, that deals with that for a while" she said under her breath. Part of her understood why both Lee and Clem were having a hard time understanding her decision to go. She had months to get used to this idea, while Lee and Clem are just getting this news now, she sees why they are so worried for her safety. She's been trained well and she doesn't doubt herself, so she just wished that they would trust in her ability to keep herself safe.

Carley was too busy thinking to notice Lee came back into the room and sat down next to her "I'm sorry."

Carley quickly turned her head to look at him in shock. "You're sorry?"

"Yea. I know this probably wasn't an easy decision to come to and I know you wouldn't intentionally do anything to get yourself killed. I should trust your judgment." Lee said as her turned to smile at her.

"Thanks. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I know this must not have been an easy thing to swallow."

"We need to talk more before you leave, but just promise me the same thing you promised Clementine and that'll be enough for me" Lee said as her scooted closer to Carley. Carley grabbed his hand and squeezed it, returning his smile with one of her own.

"Okay, I promise."

* * *

**3 Months Later**

Lee walked back and forth from the living room to the dining room while Clementine sat on the couch and watched TV and Jake sat on the floor and played with his toy cars. A month after the night Carley told Lee of her plans to go abroad everything was fully set up, she packed her bags and was set to go. Lee and Clem both got up early that day to wish her well in their pajamas before starting their first day without her. The next two months went well, with the odd occurrence of a messed up schedule or a late trip to school. Lee had never realized just how different it was to have an extra parent in the household. They had chatted with Carley a few times at via phone or web cam, but now they were all eagerly waiting to finally see her in person again.

"Dad, stop pacing. Mom will be here soon," Clementine said without taking her eyes of the TV and still mindlessly flipping through channels. Clementine wasn't as nervous as her father, but secretly her heart was racing as well. She wasn't paying attention to any of the shows that flickered by as she changed the channel, her fingers itching to do something. The only content person in the room was Jake, who didn't know his mother was coming home today.

Lee walked over and looked out the living room window for what could have been the hundredth time today, and his eyes widened when he saw Lilly's jeep pull up in front of their house. He told Clementine to watch Jake as he rushed over to the door and opened it just as Lilly stepped out of her jeep on the driver's side. Lee saw the door to the passenger's side open and his wife step out, having slight difficulty with the her small height and the height of the jeep. Carley caught sight of Lee just as he started to run down the stairs and pulled him into a hug when he reached her. He held her tight, muttering a greeting as he pushed his face into the crown of her head.

"Mom!"

"Mommy!"

Carley looked up to see Clementine helping Jake down the stairs and rushing to her with big smiles. Lee let go of her to help Lilly with Carley's bags while Carley embraced her children. Jake wiggled out of Clem's arms to get to his mother's. Carley picked him up with one arm and hugged her daughter with the other, rubbing her back. "Oh it's so good to see you guys; I missed you so much!"

"We missed you too" Clem replied before pulling away from the hug. "Dad was hopeless without you."

"Hey, things went just fine around here! I think handled things pretty well!" Lee said in mock offense.

"Was that before or after you called panicking because you thought you lost Jake at the UGA campus?" Lilly said as she handed Lee another duffel bag. Carley turned at looked at Lee in shock, holding onto Jake tighter. "You lost Jake at UGA?"

"Uh hey now, why don't go inside and talk about everything once you've settled in." Lee said before quickly carrying her bags up the stairs and into the house.

Carley shook her head at him. "That man..."

* * *

Later that night Carley lied awake, her head lying against Lee's shoulder. She tensed slightly when she felt Lee shuffle and wrap his arms around her. "Can't sleep?"

Carley shook her head. "No, I think I just need to get used to everything again," she put one of her hands on his bare arm "I missed sleeping next to you though."

"I missed sleeping next to you too" Lee frowned as he noticed Carley's far off look, as if she was deep in thought "Carley? You sure you're okay? Do you need anything?"

She smiled up at him "Yea I'm fine. All I need is you. Just you, Clementine and Jake."

Lee kissed the top of her head before kissing her on the lips "You'll always have us."

**A/N Wooo I finally got this one out! I've been working on this for the whole summer; I just never got time to work on it long enough to actually finish it until now. Also, I would never abandon these stories! I have all my chapters for Starting Over planned out already (now I just need to write it) so don't worry, Starting Over is the next thing I'm going to update, hopefully before the end of the summer! Thanks for all the awesome reviews guys, you're so nice!**


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